Here is an interesting article I found via Resource Shelf. The Open Archive Initiative (OAI) and Google Scholar by Nick Luft looks at one positive effect Google (and specifically Google Scholar) may have on digital publishing. One of the greatest barriers to retrieving and exchanging scholarly information online is the fact that database vendors (and …
The New York Times has a quite interesting piece today about what we lose and what we gain with the growth of digital libraries. In Questions and Praise for Google Web Library, the author explores a variety of viewpoints regarding Google’s recent announcement about digitizing the works of five of the great world libraries. I …
This is also huge digital library news, but, with the Google frenzy, they’ve really been the victim of bad timing. International Libraries and the Internet Archive collaborate to build Open-Access Text Archives Today, a number of International libraries have committed to putting their digitized books in open-access archives, starting with one at the Internet Archive. …
I’ve been quietly reading about the Google deal with the libraries of Stanford, University of Michigan, Harvard, Oxford, and New York City, and the resultant debates/rants on various blogs. I didn’t really want to go off on a half-cocked rant of my own, so I’ve spent the last few days thinking about what Google’s digitization …
According to Wired, a four-year study of the 2.6 Linux production kernel by Stanford University researchers has determined that there are 985 bugs in the 5.7 million lines of code. While this may seem a lot (it’s 0.17 bugs per 1,000 lines of code), compare that to the average piece of commercial software, which has …
Apparently, an executive at Time Warner has been shopping around a new idea of fair use that would benefit the television industry. It’s called “transitional fair use.” According to Rick Ellis at All Your TV, the cable companies are looking for ways to justify limiting how long people can view shows recorded with a DVR. …
There has been some blogging about blog popularity this week. Blake of LISNews looked at the popularity of library blogs – within the entire blogosphere and versus other library blogs. He looked at site stats in order to figure out how significant LISNews is. He realized that there are a number of ways of measuring …
I just found this lovely site with snowflakes created by children’s book illustrators. Each snowflake will be auctioned off (on Ebay) to support the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. I’m sure some of the illustrators will be familiar to many of you, and their work represents the variety of styles of children’s book illustrations. My favorite …
Chris Jowaisas of TechnoBiblio brought up an important point about implementing Wi-Fi in libraries (or anywhere for that matter): the need for power. Sure, it’s great to have Wi-Fi, but with the terrible battery life many laptops have, not offering power outlets around the library may make it difficult for people to actually enjoy using …
According to Slashdot, the American Chemical Society is suing Google over their use of the title Google Scholar. The American Chemical Society has a product called SciFinder Scholar, and they feel that Google Scholar infringes on their trademark. Wow, this is like Spike Lee thinking he has the sole right to the name Spike and …
When I looked at my page stats (which this time actually told me that someone other than my husband was reading my blog – woo hoo!) I found that people in Denmark had visited my site. I actually studied in Copenhagen for almost a year, and I think it is one of the best places …
Wow, so today is the day I graduate. Being that my whole library educational experience was virtual (except for my internship and a trip to the ALA conference in June) it all feels somewhat unreal or surreal. Since I’m not driving up to Tallahassee for graduation, there really isn’t going to be any fanfare. Maybe …
Karen Schneider of Free Range Librarian has written a thought-provoking piece about blogging ethics. She says that librarian bloggers need a code of ethics because “too many of us want to be considered serious citizen-journalists, when it suits us, but fall back on ‘hey, it’s only a blog’ when we’d rather post first and fact-check …
I know we always hear about how superior Linux is to Windows in terms of security, but most things I read primarily talk about what is wrong with Microsoft and never admit to any possible vulnerabilities with Linux. This Newsforge article is the first I’ve seen that actually tries to gauge how vulnerable Linux may …
Are you using Firefox yet? Well, why not? It is has so many advantages over Mozilla. Newsforge has an article about many of Firefox’s features including, improved speed, improved security features (including password-protected passwords), and tons of cool extensions you can add onto your browser. And if you’re still browsing with Internet Explorer (Dad!), I …
Wow! I can hardly keep up with all of Google’s betas and latest acquisitions! Google Suggest seems to be their newest beta (though don’t quote me on that). It’s looks just like the usual Google search box, but as you are typing in your query, a box drops down with suggestions of what you might …
Here is an interesting article on the year in review for search engines. 2004 saw many major players (Yahoo, Google, and MSN in particular) kick their competition up a notch by trying to differentiate themselves from the pack. Will more of the same happen in 2005? Tara Calishain at Research Buzz thinks 2005 will be …
The New York Times has an article on how libraries are reaching out online and about the resurgence of e-books. It’s not exactly earth-shattering, but so nice to see the New York Times recognizing what’s going on in libraries today.
I’ve been applying for jobs now, primarily in academic and public libraries, since late September. I had professors and students alike tell me that if I’m geographically flexible and have a second masters degree I should have no problem getting a job. So why is it that the only institutions that have been interested in …
I remember years ago, when I would travel and wanted to keep in touch with my friends and family, I would just pop into the local library and use the Internet. Sometimes I’d have to sign up for a specific time to use it and wait, but I certainly never minded waiting and exploring libraries …